ADFX 2016 Case Study Highlights

26th September 2016

Orchard Thieves: Thieving the spotlight

This case demonstrates how Orchard Thieves successfully challenged Bulmer’s cider market dominance and achieved 6.6% value share within eight months. They sold 2 million pints and 3 million bottles and cans, doubling their business case targets and reducing their payback period by 2 years. Be Bold was the brand idea that inspired ground-breaking creative and digital ideas and serious media investment: 58% share of voice. Orchard Thieves is now a global brand for Heineken and is being launched in the Netherlands and South Africa using Irish - produced assets.

WaterWipes: How showing ineffectiveness proved to be dramatically effective for a plucky little Irish business

This case shows how a small Irish start-up invented a chemical-free baby-wipe and took on the big multinationals in baby-care. Forensic insight into mothers inspired compelling creative work and media deployment. Within 10 months, WaterWipes doubled value market share from 11% to 21% in Ireland and 0.9% to 2.1% in the UK, despite being priced up to 3 times more than own-label wipes. This led to a Revenue Return in Marketing Investment of €1.98: 1 in Ireland and €8.28:1 in the U.K. A new 45,000 sq. ft. factory has been built to service demand and local jobs have gone from 15 to 90. The brand has now been launched in 13 countries - including USA, Canada, Hong Kong and UAE - and the ‘formerly marketing- sceptical’ founder agreed to triple the 2015 marketing budget for 2016.

AIB: Back from the brink of brand extinction

In 2013, things could hardly be more negative for AIB. The Irish bank was dealing with the aftermath of banking melt-down with a 2012 operating profit loss of €3.5 billion, a negative Net Promotion Score (NPS) of -37 and 90% negative social media sentiment. The client and agency developed an organizing brand idea around ‘Backing’, which inspired new behaviour, offers and communications which demonstrated how much the bank valued its customers. By 2015, AIB recorded an operating profit of €1.26 billion, it had improved NPS by 33 points and had 75% positive social media sentiment. Of course, the brand idea was not wholly responsible for this successful corporate turnaround but the return on investment to sales for small business loans, personal credit and GAA sponsorship all far exceeded sectoral norms.

The Natural Confectionery Company: How Jelly-Phants were born

Creativity at best makes something out of nothing. In 2011, it would be safe to say TNCC had close to nothing – sales declining at a steep rate, competitors out-performing them, a client with vastly depleted man-power and no creative agency. PHD identified a sponsorship opportunity with Dublin Zoo elephants, based on the insight that ‘families who play together stay together’. They then worked with a small budget of €131,000 to generate AV videos and managed to reach 87% of housekeeper audience using digital and social channels. The campaign then inspired a special edition ‘Jelly Phants’ pack which was the most successful ever launch for TNCC. The campaign resulted in double digit value sales growth and a Revenue Return on Marketing Investment of €4.41:1

SuperValu: How a brave local brand defied the forces of globalisation

In 2012, SuperValu had lost their number 1 position in supermarkets to the mighty Tesco and was under severe pressure from the growth of discounters Aldi and Lidl. The retailer and their agency defined three pillars around Quality, Local and Value and started to behave and communicate differently to support these pillars. Three campaigns underpinned the overall SuperValu mission – ‘Hello’ launched their own label range of local products, ‘We Believe’ underpinned SuperValu commitments to local communities and Good Food Karma inspired and challenged the people of Ireland to cook more and eat better. A wide breadth of media was used, along with social channels and a Food Academy to support local producers. By the end of 2015, Super Valu had reclaimed 25% value market share and taken back the number 1 supermarket position in Ireland.

Give it time to brew: How Ireland’s longest-running brand idea helped Barry’s Tea to ride out the recession

Since 2008, Barry’s Tea has faced commercial challenges on all fronts – the rise of the discounter, deep consumer recession and a market rival with deep pockets – Lyons. Barry’s was under retail pressure to join the ‘race to the bottom’ and compete on price. The client and agency made a decision to put priority on the long term financial health of the brand. The creative strategy used ‘Golden Moments’ to underpin the emotional connection and product quality while sustaining confident media investment at 45% share of voice. Barry’s maintained a strong value market share of 25% while minimising price elasticity. By the end of 2015, Barry’s Team was the only brand in value growth in the tea category, driven by premium pricing and increasing penetration by user recruitment.